This invention relates to still cameras, and particularly to a mechanism for printing (marking) identifier information on each picture frame of the film after each picture-taking event. The information can, for example, be the date the picture is taken, or the names of the people in the picture, or the occasion of the picture-taking event (e.g. seventh birthday), or the location at which the picture is being taken.
This invention could be useful to many persons who might have occasion to use a still camera, e.g. police personnel engaged in surveillance activities, attorneys taking photographic evidence of accidents, botanists, archeologists, vacationers, and other persons desiring to have explanatory information printed directly on pictures as they are being taken.
It is already known to provide identifier information on film frames (pictures) while they are being taken. We are aware of the following U.S. patents showing mechanisms for this purpose: 3,703,129 to Goshima et al, 4,143,956 to F. Miyagawa, 4,384,771 to Sakurada et al, 4,742,369 to Ishii et al, and 4,825,233 to Kanai et al.
The present invention is concerned with a marking mechanism that can be operated and controlled with solid state circuitry, such that the mechanism can be used on relatively small size cameras. The mechanism is designed so that the film-marking action takes place during the film-advance cycle (after the picture has been taken); control circuitry in the mechanism makes it possible for the person taking the picture to delay his decision on the wording of the information until after the picture has been taken (i.e. until he is certain of what the picture shows).